Word for the Week

Be who you already are

Week beginning: 4th March, 2018 | By Claire Chia | London

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

Colossians 3:1-4 (ESV)

What are you like under pressure? Impatient? Snappy? Quick to blame-shift?

As lawyers, we so easily yield to our circumstances – deadlines, difficult colleagues, fatigue – and forget ourselves. But if what Paul writes here is true, then right now we are – spiritually – where Christ is: at God's right hand! Because of what Jesus did on the cross, we have already attained the same sinless status as Christ in God's eyes.

After establishing this extraordinary truth, Paul sets us an incredibly challenging task: to set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. That is, to deny our earthly desires, and be like Christ in our thoughts, words and deeds.

In His kindness, there is grace for when we fail, but let's seek to be Christ to those around us in our colleges, firms and chambers today, because that is who our Heavenly Father sees, when He sees us. In the midst of our hectic schedules, let's set our minds on the perfection of Christ, and obey Him above all else.

Let's be who we already are.

Prayer Points:

1. Praise God that our lives are now hidden in Christ because of what He accomplished on the cross.

2. Pray that we would live as those who are raised with Christ, reflecting His character in our thoughts, words and deeds this week.